Replenishment and order fulfillment system

ABSTRACT

A warehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed in containers is provided. The system includes a multilevel storage array including an array of storage shelves for holding containers thereon, at least one substantially continuous lift for transporting containers to and from at least one level of the storage array, at least one transport vehicle located on the at least one level and configured to traverse a transport area transporting containers between the at least one continuous lift and container storage locations so that the at least one continuous lift communicates non-deterministically, via the transport vehicle, with storage locations of each of the storage shelves on the at least one level, an infeed transport system linked to the at least one continuous lift, and an order fulfillment station for generating order containers corresponding to customer orders where the order containers are entered onto the storage shelves of the storage array.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/860,491, filed Apr. 28, 2020, (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,994,930), whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/358,488, filedMar. 19, 2019, (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,633,184), which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/479,111, filed Apr. 4, 2017, (nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,233,019), which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/715,029, filed on May 18, 2015, (now U.S. Pat.No. 9,611,097), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/047,584, filed on Mar. 14, 2011, (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,037,286),which claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 61/313,638, filed on Mar. 12, 2010, the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

1. FIELD

The exemplary embodiments generally relate to an order replenishmentsystem and more specifically to an automated order replenishment system.

2. BACKGROUND

Replenishment and order fulfillment are major portions of operations inthe retail field and contribute greatly to cost factor. Improvements inthe systems and methods for effecting replenishment and orderfulfillment resulting in higher efficiencies (e.g. throughput) and lowerfulfillment costs would provide significant advantages to retailbusiness enjoying the fruits of such improvements. Generallyreplenishment of stores (e.g. retail stores or other stores wereconsumers can obtain various goods units) is accomplished fromwarehouses that by their nature may provide improved bulk storagecapabilities compared to the store. The warehouse and store, naturally,are connected by a transport system that may include for exampleshipping systems, in examples where warehouse and store aregeographically remote, and/or other suitable transport systems such aspallet trucks/fork lifts, continuous mass transport systems, (e.g.belt/roller conveyors, air bearing slides, etc.), and robotic vehicles.In other example, the warehouse may be substantially adjoining thestore. As may be realized, the warehouse may be provided with storage,sorting and transport systems for storing and handling product cases. Acase means a shipping container such as a carton, box, etc. capable ofholding one or more product or good units and used to form the buildingblocks of a shipping pallet. A product or good unit is used herein torefer to the individual base unit procured by the customer at the store,which may be made up of one or more items (e.g. individual can ormulti-can pack are both good units). A product case means a case holdingonly good units of a common product type as may be provided or sourcedfrom a single manufacturer or distributor, is stocked prior to order andfinally for chase. As may be realized, the warehouse may be providedwith a storage, sorting and transport system that effect replenishmentand order fulfillment of storage from the warehoused product cases.Storage may seek replenishment using what may be referred to as orderline(s). Each order line corresponding to a store customer identifyingthe type/unique identification of the good(s) sought and the quantity ofthe good units sought. As may be realized, the quantity of good unitsmay be more or less than case capacity. Accordingly, if the orderquantity is less than a case, replenishment may be performed by shippinggood unit(s) (or what may be also referred to as each or eached forpurposes of description) out from the product case and a shippingcontainer such as an order tote. A tote is a container suitable forbeing palletized and shipped. As may be also realized, order totes mayinclude good units of different product types and sizes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodiment areexplained in the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a facility with a replenishment andorder fulfillment system incorporating features in accordance withaspects of a disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view of a facility with a replenishment andorder fulfillment system incorporating features in accordance withaspects of a disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a portion of a replenishment andorder fulfillment system in accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 3-3N are schematic illustrations of a transport vehicle inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 4-4C are schematic illustrations of a portion of the storagesystem of the facility in FIG. 1 in accordance with aspects of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 5-5F are schematic illustrations of a conveyor system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 5G is a flow chart in accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a module or portion of thereplenishment system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; andFIG. 6A is a partial perspective view showing part of the system in FIG.6;

FIGS. 7A-7F are schematic perspective views of the system, shown in FIG.6, with one or more of the portions or system components removed inrespective views for clarity; FIG. 7A showing a product tote conveyor;FIG. 7B further showing workstations; FIG. 7C further showing order toteconveyor(s); and FIG. 7D further showing empty product tote conveyor(s);FIG. 7E further showing replenishment product to the conveyor(s); andFIG. 7F showing an order staging conveyor(s) in accordance with aspectsof the disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 8A-8C respectively show schematic perspective front, back andpartial back views of a workstation in the replenishment system inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 9A-9B are schematic plan views of the workstation showing theworkstation at different stages during the replenishment process;

FIG. 10 is a schematic partial view showing a portion of thereplenishment system in accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process in accordance withaspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram in accordance with an aspect of the disclosedembodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram in accordance with an aspect of the disclosedembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a schematic plan view of a facility,such as a warehouse, that has a warehousing system for storing, sortingand transporting product cases within the facility, and a replenishmentsystem for replenishment and order fulfillment of stores (such as forexample, grocery, retail or other stores) and other customers, includingindividuals, incorporating features in accordance with aspects of thedisclosed embodiment. Although aspects of the disclosed embodiment willbe described with reference to the drawings, it should be understoodthat the aspects of the disclosed embodiment can be embodied in manyalternate forms. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type ofelements or materials could be used.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the warehousing system 12 in the facility maybe automated at least in part. Suitable examples of automatedwarehousing systems are described in U.S. provisional application No.61/168,349, filed on Apr. 10, 2009 entitled “Storage and RetrievalSystem”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,220, filed on Apr. 9,2010 entitled “Storage and Retrieval System”, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/757,337, filed on Apr. 9, 2010 entitled “Control System forStorage and Retrieval Systems”, U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/757,381 filed on Apr. 9, 2010 entitled “Storage and RetrievalSystem”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,354 filed on Apr. 9,2010 entitled “Lift Interface for Storage and Retrieval Systems”, andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,312 filed Apr. 9, 2010 entitledAutonomous Transports for Storage and Retrieval Systems”, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties. It should be understood that the warehousing system may beof any suitable type and configuration. As may be realized, thewarehousing or storage and retrieval system 12 is arranged to handleproduct cases, (as well as product totes and order totes) that may moveat the facility on pallets and may be depalletized, for storage andretrieval. For example, in one aspect and referring to FIG. 2, thestorage and retrieval system 12 may be connected in any suitable mannerto a storage system 100 that is substantially similar to that describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,220 previously incorporatedby reference herein. The storage and retrieval system 100, like storageand retrieval system 12, may be configured for installation in, forexample, existing warehouse structures or adapted to new warehousestructures. In one example, the storage and retrieval system 100 mayinclude in-feed and out-feed transfer stations 170, 160, multilevelvertical conveyors 150A, 150B, a storage structure 130, and a number ofautonomous vehicular transport robots 110 (referred to herein as“bots”). The storage structure 130 may include multiple levels ofstorage rack modules where each level includes respective picking aisles130A, and transfer decks 130B for transferring case units between any ofthe storage areas of the storage structure 130 and any shelf of anymultilevel vertical conveyor 150A, 150B. The picking aisles 130A, andtransfer decks 130B also allow the bots to place case units into pickingstock and to retrieve ordered case units. The bots 110 may be configuredto place case units, such as the above described retail merchandise,into picking stock in the one or more levels of the storage structure130 and then selectively retrieve ordered case units for shipping theordered case units to, for example, a store or transferring the caseunits to storage and retrieval system 12 as will be described below. Thein-feed transfer stations 170 and out-feed transfer stations 160 mayoperate together with their respective multilevel vertical conveyors150A, 150B for bi-directionally transferring case units to and from oneor more levels of the storage structure 130. It is noted that while themultilevel vertical conveyors 150A, 150B are described as beingdedicated inbound conveyors 150A and outbound conveyors 150B, it shouldbe understood that each of the conveyors 150A, 150B may be used for bothinbound and outbound transfer of case units/case units from the storageand retrieval system.

When transferring case units out of the storage system 100 the bots 110may place the storage units on an outbound multilevel vertical conveyor150B in any suitable manner. The outbound vertical conveyor 150B maytransfer the case units to the out feed transfer stations 160 which maybe configured to prepare the case units for shipping or transfer thecase units to a conveyor 13 for transfer to the storage and retrievalsystem 12 (see also FIG. 1). For example, the conveyor may connect theoutbound multilevel vertical conveyor 150B of storage system 100 or anyother suitable supply source with an inbound multilevel verticalconveyor 150I of the storage and retrieval system 12. As may berealized, case units or the contents thereof may be prepared in anysuitable manner for use in the storage and retrieval system 12 duringthe transfer of the case units and their contents between storage system100 and storage and retrieval system 12. As one example the conveyor mayinclude a box or container top removal station that exposes the contentsof the case unit for each picking as described herein so that the caseunit becomes a product tote. In another example, the contents of thecase unit may be transferred to another container or tote (e.g. producttote).

As seen in FIG. 1, and with reference also to FIGS. 4-4C, generally thewarehousing system 12 may include storage locations (for examplearranged in racks that may be stacked vertically, see for example FIG.4, and distributed along aisles) capable of housing for exampleuncontained cases, such as product cases for example as well as productand order totes. As may be realized product totes PT or uncontainedcases of the same type may be stored in different locations within thestorage structure 130 so that at least one of that type of item may beretrieved when other ones of that type of item are inaccessible. Thestorage and retrieval system may also be configured to provide multipleaccess paths or routes to each storage location (e.g. pickface) so thatbots 110 may reach each storage location using, for example, a secondarypath if a primary path to the storage location is obstructed.

It is noted that the storage and retrieval systems shown herein haveexemplary configurations only and may have any suitable configurationand components for storing and retrieving case units as describedherein. For example, the storage and retrieval system in FIG. 1 is shownhas a single ended storage system (e.g. modules 20 and transfer decks130B are located only on one end of the picking aisles 130A and storageracks 500X) but it should be understood that the modules 20 and transferdecks 130B may be located on both ends of the picking aisles 130A andstorage racks 500X as shown in FIG. 1A. As may be realized, the storageand retrieval system may also have any suitable number of storagesections or racks 500X, any suitable number of transfer decks 130B andcorresponding modules 20. As a further example, a storage and retrievalsystem in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment mayinclude transfer decks and corresponding modules 20 located on three orfour sides of the storage sections for serving, for example, loadingdocks disposed on various sides of a building or the modules may belocated in between two storage sections so that the storage sectionsextend laterally from the transfer decks that extend between the storagesections and provide product and/or order totes to vertical conveyorsthat feed the modules 20.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, the storage structure 130 of the storage andretrieval system 12 will be described in greater detail. In accordancewith an exemplary embodiment, the storage structure 130 includes, forexample, any suitable number of vertical supports 612 and any suitablenumber of horizontal supports 610, 611, 613. It is noted that the termsvertical and horizontal are used for exemplary purposes only and thatthe supports of the storage structure 130 may have any suitable spatialorientation. In this exemplary embodiment, the vertical supports 612 andhorizontal supports 610, 611, 613 may form an array of storage modules501, 502, 503 having storage bays 510, 511. The horizontal supports 610,611, 613 may be configured to support the storage shelves 600 (describedbelow) as well as the floors or tracks (for the bots 110 to travel)within the aisle spaces 130A. The horizontal supports 610, 611, 613 maybe configured to minimize the number of splices between horizontalsupports 610, 611, 613 and thus, the number of splices that, forexample, tires of the bots 110 will encounter. For exemplary purposesonly, the aisle floor 130F may be a solid floor constructed of plymetalpanels having, for example, a wood core sandwiched between sheets ofsheet metal. As may be realized, the floors of the storage and retrievalsystem 12 may have any suitable layered, laminated, solid or otherconstruction and be constructed of any suitable material(s), including,but not limited to plastics, metals, woods and composites. In one aspectof the disclosed embodiment the floors may be constructed of a honeycombstructure or other suitable lightweight yet substantially rigidstructure. The floors may be coated or treated with wear resistantmaterials or include replaceable sheets or panels that may be replacedwhen worn. Tracks 1300 (FIG. 3D) for the bots 110 may be incorporatedinto or otherwise affixed to, for example, the aisle floors for guidingthe bots 110 in substantially straight lines or paths of travel whilethe bots 110 are traveling within the storage structure 130. Suitableexamples of tracks 1300 are described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/757,312, entitled “AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTS FOR STORAGE ANDRETRIEVAL SYSTEMS,” previously incorporated by reference. The floors maybe attached to, for example, one or more of the vertical and horizontalsupports (or any other suitable support structure) in any suitablemanner such as with any suitable fasteners including, but not limited tobolts and welds. In one exemplary embodiment, as can be seen in, forexample, FIG. 3D, the tracks 1300 for the bots 110 may be fixed to oneor more vertical supports of the storage structure in any suitablemanner such that the bot straddles adjacent tracks 1300 for traversing apicking aisle 130A. As can be seen in FIG. 3D one or more of the pickingaisles may be substantially vertically unobstructed by floors (e.g. thepicking aisles do not have floors). The absence of floors on eachpicking level may allow maintenance personnel to walk down the pickingaisles where the height between each storage level would otherwisesubstantially prevent the maintenance personnel from traversing thepicking aisles.

Still referring to FIGS. 4-4C, each of the storage bays 510, 511 mayhold one or more product totes PT and/or order totes CT on storageshelves 600 that are separated by the picking aisles 130A (see also FIG.1). It is noted that the product totes PT and order totes CT may beplaced on the same shelf adjacent one another (e.g. product totes arelocated next to order totes and vice versa), as shown in FIG. 4B, in thesame storage array on the same level of the storage structure 130 asshown in FIG. 1 or the product totes PT may be segregated from the ordertotes CT and vice versa (e.g. one storage aisle 500X has product totesand another different one of the storage racks 500X has order totes orone level of the storage structure has product totes and anotherdifferent level of the storage structure has order totes). A controller,such as controller 120, may be configured to designate and track thestorage locations of the totes CT, PT for manipulation of the totes CT,PT through the storage and retrieval system 12. It is also noted that inone aspect of the disclosed embodiment the vertical supports 612 and/orhorizontal supports 610, 611, 613 may be configured to allow foradjusting the height or elevation of the storage shelves and/or floorsrelative to, for example, each other and a floor of the facility inwhich the storage and retrieval system is located. In another aspect,the storage shelves and floors may be fixed in elevation. As can be seenin FIG. 4A, storage module 501 is configured as an end module having,for example, about half the width of the other storage modules 502, 503.As an example, the end module 501 may have a wall located on one sideand the picking aisle 130A located on the opposite side. The depth Dl ofend module 501 may be such that access to the storage shelves 600 onmodule 501 is achieved by the picking aisle 130A located on but one sideof the storage module 501, whereas the storage shelves 600 of modules502, 503 may be accessed by picking aisles 130A located on both sides ofthe modules 502, 503 allowing for, as an example, the storage modules502, 503 having a depth substantially twice that of the depth Dl ofstorage module 501.

The storage shelves 600 may include one or more support legs 620L1,620L2 extending from, for example, the horizontal supports 610, 611,613. The support legs 620L1, 620L2 may have any suitable configurationand may be part of, for example, a substantially U-shaped channel 620such that the legs are connected to each other through channel portion620B. The channel portion 620B may provide an attachment point betweenthe channel 620 and one or more horizontal supports 610, 611, 613. Inalternate embodiments, each support leg 620L1, 620L2 may be configuredto individually mount to the horizontal supports 610, 611, 613. In thisexemplary embodiment, each support leg 620L1, 620L2 includes a bentportion 620H1, 620H2 having a suitable surface area configured tosupport case units stored on the shelves 600. The bent portions 620H1,620H2 may be configured to substantially prevent deformation of the caseunits stored on the shelves. In other aspects of the disclosedembodiment the leg portions 620H1, 620H2 may have a suitable thicknessor have any other suitable shape and/or configuration for supportingcase units stored on the shelves. As can be seen in FIGS. 17A and 17B,the support legs 620L1, 620L2 or channels 620 may form a slatted orcorrugated shelf structure where spaces 620S between, for example, thesupport legs 620L1, 620L2 allow for arms or fingers of the bots 110 toreach into the shelving for transferring case units to and from theshelves. It is noted that the support legs 620L1, 620L2 of the shelves600 may be configured for storing case units, where adjacent case unitsare spaced any suitable distance from each other. For example, a pitchor spacing between the support legs 620L1, 620L2 in the direction ofarrow 698 may be such that the case units are placed on the shelves 600with a distance of about one pitch between the case units to, forexample, minimize contact between case units as the case units areplaced and removed from the shelves by the bots 110. For exemplarypurposes only, case units located adjacent one another may be spacedapart, for example, in direction 698 a distance of about 2.54 cm. Inalternate embodiments the spacing between the case units on the shelvesmay be any suitable spacing. It is also noted that transfer of caseunits to and from the multilevel vertical conveyors 150A, 150B (whetherthe transfer is made directly or indirectly by the bot 110) may occur ina substantially similar manner to that described above with respect tothe storage shelves 600.

The warehouse system may also include for example a transport systemincluding autonomous vehicles or bots 110 and lifts 150 (see also FIGS.3 and 5 showing an exemplary transport such as a robot vehicle 110 and alift 150, such as a continuous vertical conveyor, that may be capable ofhandling for example both uncontained cases as well as product and ordertotes) capable of transporting cases and totes to and from storagelocations throughout the storage array. As may be realized the transportsystem is capable of placing and retrieving cases and totes from storagelocations to desired locations within the facility for effectingreplenishment and order fulfillment as will be described further below.As noted before the arrangement of the warehousing or storage andretrieval system illustrated is merely exemplary and in alternateembodiments the system may have any desired configuration.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3N the bots 110 generally include a frame 1200, adrive system 1210, a control system 1220, and a payload area 1230. Thedrive system 1210 and control system 1220 may be mounted to the frame inany suitable manner. The frame may form the payload area 1230 and beconfigured for movably mounting a transfer arm or effector 1235 to thebot 110.

In one example, the drive system 1210 may include two drive wheels 1211,1212 disposed at a drive end 1298 of the bot 110 and two idler wheels1213, 1214 disposed at a driven end 1299 of the bot 110. The wheels1211-1214 may be mounted to the frame 1200 in any suitable manner and beconstructed of any suitable material, such as for example,low-rolling-resistance polyurethane. It is noted that the bot 110 mayhave any suitable number of drive and idler wheels. In one aspect of thedisclosed embodiment, the wheels 1211-1214 may be substantially fixedrelative to the a longitudinal axis 1470 (FIG. 3F) of the bot 110 (e.g.the rotational plane of the wheels is fixed in a substantially parallelorientation relative to the longitudinal axis 1470 of the bot) to allowthe bot 110 to move in substantially straight lines such as when, forexample, the bot is travelling on a transfer deck 130B (e.g. FIG. 1) orwithin a picking isle 130A (e.g. FIG. 1). In other aspects of thedisclosed embodiments, the rotational plane of one or more of the drivewheels and idler wheels may be pivotal (e.g. steerable) relative to thelongitudinal axis 1470 of the bot for providing steering capabilities tothe bot 110 by turning the rotational planes of one or more of the idleror drive wheels relative to the longitudinal axis 1470. The wheels1211-1214 may be substantially rigidly mounted to the frame 1200 suchthat the axis of rotation of each wheel is substantially stationaryrelative to the frame 1200. In other aspects of the disclosed embodimentthe wheels 1211-1214 may be movably mounted to the frame by, forexample, any suitable suspension device, such that the axis of rotationof the wheels 1211-1214 is movable relative to the frame 1200. Movablymounting the wheels 1211-1214 to the frame 1200 may allow the bot 110 tosubstantially level itself on uneven surfaces while keeping the wheels1211-1214 in contact with the surface.

Each of the drive wheels 1211, 1212 may be individually driven by arespective motor 1211M, 1212M. The drive motors 1211M, 1212M may be anysuitable motors such as, for exemplary purposes only, direct currentelectric motors. The motors 1211M, 1212M may be powered by any suitablepower source such as by, for example, a capacitor 1400 (FIG. 4B) mountedto the frame 1200. As may be realized the power source may be anysuitable power source such as, for example, a battery or fuel cell. Instill other aspects the motors may be alternating current electricmotors or internal combustion motors. The motors may also be a singlemotor with dual independently operable drive trains/transmissions forindependently driving each drive wheel. The drive motors 1211M, 1212Mmay be configured for bi-directional operation and may be individuallyoperable under, for example, control of the control system 1220 foreffecting steering of the bot 110 as will be described below. The motors1211M, 1212M may be configured for driving the bot 110 at any suitablespeed with any suitable acceleration when the bot is in either a forwardorientation (e.g. drive end 1298 trailing the direction of travel) or areverse orientation (e.g. drive end 1298 leading the direction oftravel). In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the motors 1211M,1212M are configured for direct driving of their respective drive wheel1211, 1212 while in other aspects the motors 1211M, 1212M may beindirectly coupled to their respective wheels 1211, 1212 through anysuitable transmission such as, for example, a drive shaft, belts andpulleys and/or a gearbox. The drive system 1210 of the bot 110 mayinclude an electrical braking system such as for example, a regenerativebraking system (e.g. to charge, for example, a capacitor 1400 (FIG. 3F)powering the bot 110 under braking). In alternate embodiments, the bot110 may include any suitable mechanical braking system. The drive motorsmay be configured to provide any suitable acceleration/decelerationrates and any suitable bot travel speeds. For exemplary purposes onlythe motors 1211M, 1212M may be configured to provide the bot (while thebot is loaded at full capacity) a rate of acceleration/deceleration ofabout 3.048 m/sec2, a transfer deck 130B cornering speed of about 1.524m/sec and a transfer deck straightaway speed of about 9.144 m/sec orabout 10 m/sec.

As noted above drive wheels 1211, 1212 and idler wheels 1213, 1214 aresubstantially fixed relative to the frame 1200 for guiding the bot 110along substantially straight paths while the bot is travelling on, forexample, the transfer decks 130B (e.g. FIG. 1). Corrections in thestraight line paths may be made through differential rotation of thedrive wheels 1211, 1212 as described herein. In other aspects of thedisclosed embodiment, guide rollers 1250, 1251 may be mounted to theframe to aid in guiding the bot 110 on the transfer deck 130B such asthrough contact with a wall of the transfer deck 130B or rails may beprovided on the transfer deck in a manner substantially similar to thatin the picking aisles 130A (with provisions for allowing the bots 110 toturn on the transfer deck 130B and into the picking aisles 130A) forguiding the bot 110. However, in this example the fixed drive and idlerwheels 1211-1214 may not provide agile steering of the bot 110 such aswhen, for example, the bot 110 is transitioning between the pickingaisles 130A, transfer decks 130B or transfer areas 295. In one aspect,the bot 110 may be provided with one or more retractable casters 1260,1261 for allowing the bot 110 to make, for example, substantially rightangle turns when transitioning between the picking aisles 130A, transferdecks 130B and bot transfer stations 140A, 140B. It is noted that whiletwo casters 1260, 1261 are shown and described, in other aspects of thedisclosed embodiment the bot 110 may have more or less than tworetractable casters. The retractable casters 1260, 1261 may be mountedto the frame 1200 in any suitable manner such that when the casters1260, 1261 are in a retracted position both the idler wheels 1213, 1214and drive wheels 1211, 1212 are in contact with a flooring surface suchas surface 1300S of the rails 1300 or a transfer deck 130B of thestorage structure 130, whereas when the casters 1260, 1261 are loweredthe idler wheels 1213, 1214 are lifted off the flooring surface. As thecasters 1260, 1261 are extended or lowered the idler wheels 1213, 1214are lifted off of the flooring surface so that the driven end 1299 ofthe bot 110 can be pivoted about a point P of the bot through, forexample, differential rotation of the drive wheels 1211, 1212. Forexample, the motors 1211M, 1212M may be individually and differentiallyoperated for causing the bot 110 to pivot about point P which islocated, for example, midway between the wheels 1211, 1212 while thedriven end 1299 of the bot swings about point P accordingly via thecasters 1260, 1261.

In other aspects of the disclosed embodiment, the idler wheels 1213,1214 may be replaced by non-retractable casters 1260′, 1261′ (FIG. 3G)where the straight line motion of the bot 110 is controlled by differingrotational speeds of each of the drive wheels 1211, 1212 as describedherein. The non-retractable casters 1260′, 1261′ may be releasablylockable casters such that the casters 1260′, 1261′ may be selectivelylocked in predetermined rotational orientations to, for example, assistin guiding the bot 110 along a travel path. For example, during straightline motion of the bot 110 on the transfer deck 130B and/or within thepicking aisles 130A the non-retractable casters 1260′, 1261′ may belocked in an orientation such that the wheels of the casters 1260′,1261′ are substantially in-line with a respective one of the drivewheels 1213, 1214 (e.g. the rotational plane of the wheels of thecasters is fixed in a substantially parallel orientation relative to thelongitudinal axis 1470 of the bot). The rotational plane of the wheelsof non-retractable casters 1260′, 1261′ may be locked and releasedrelative to the longitudinal axis 1470 of the bot 110 in any suitablemanner. For example, a controller of the bot 110 (which may be locatedonboard the bot or remotely from the bot, such as controller 120) may beconfigured to effect the locking and releasing of the casters 1260′,1261′ by for example controlling any suitable actuator and/or lockingmechanism.

The bot 110 may also be provided with guide wheels 1250-1253. As can bebest seen in FIGS. 3C and 3D, while the bot 110 is travelling in, forexample, the picking aisles 130A and/or transfer areas 295 (FIG. 1) themovement of the bot 110 may be guided by a tracked or rail guidancesystem. It is noted that the transfer areas 295 may allow the bots 110to access transport shelves 730 (FIGS. 5A-5F) of the multilevel verticalconveyors 150I, 150O (generally referred to as conveyors 150). The railguidance system may include rails 1300 disposed on either side of thebot 110. The rails 1300 and guide wheels 1250-1253 may allow forhigh-speed travel of the bot 110 without complex steering and navigationcontrol subsystems. The rails 1300 may be configured with a recessedportion 1300R shaped to receive the guide wheels 1250-1253 of the bot110. It is noted that the rails may have any suitable configuration suchas, for example, without recessed portion 1300R. The rails 1300 may beintegrally formed with or otherwise fixed to, for example, one or moreof the horizontal and vertical supports 398, 399 of the storage rackstructure 130. As can be seen in FIG. 3D the picking aisles may besubstantially floor-less such that bot wheel supports 1300S of the guiderails 1300 extend away from the storage areas a predetermined distanceto allow a sufficient surface area for the wheels 1211-1214 (or in thecase of lockable casters, wheels 1260′, 1261′) of the bot 110 to ridealong the rails 1300. In alternate embodiments the picking aisles mayhave any suitable floor that extends between adjacent storage areas oneither side of the picking aisle. In one aspect of the disclosedembodiment, the rails 1300 may include a friction member 1300F forproviding traction to the drive wheels 1211, 1212 of the bot 110. Thefriction member 1300F may be any suitable member such as for example, acoating, an adhesive backed strip or any other suitable member thatsubstantially creates a friction surface for interacting with the wheelsof the bot 110.

While four guide wheels 1250-1253 are shown and described it should beunderstood that the bot 110 may have any suitable number of guidewheels. The guide wheels 1250-1253 may be mounted to, for example, theframe 1200 of the bot in any suitable manner. In one example, the guidewheels 1250-1253 may be mounted to the frame 1200, through for example,spring and damper devices so as to provide relative movement between theguide wheels 1250-1253 and the frame 1200. The relative movement betweenthe guide wheels 1250-1253 and the frame may be a dampening movementconfigured to, for example, cushion the bot 110 and its payload againstany change in direction or irregularities (e.g. misaligned jointsbetween track segments, etc.) in the track 1300. In other examples, theguide wheels 1250-1253 may be rigidly mounted to the frame 1200. Thefitment between the guide wheels 1250-1253 and the recessed portion1300R of the track 1300 may be configured to provide stability (e.g.anti-tipping) to the bot during, for example, cornering and/or extensionof the transfer arm 1235 (e.g. to counteract any tipping moments createdby a cantilevered load on the transfer arm). It is noted that the botmay be stabilized in any suitable manner during cornering and/orextension of the transfer arm 1235. For example, the bot 110 may includea suitable counterweight system for counteracting any moment that iscreated on the bot through the extension of the transfer arm 1235.

The transfer arm 1235 may be movably mounted to the frame 1200 within,for example, the payload area 1230. It is noted that the payload area1230 and transfer arm 1235 may be suitably sized for transporting casesin the storage and retrieval system 100. For example, the width W of thepayload area 1230 and transfer arm 1235 may be substantially the same asor larger than a depth D (FIG. 6B) of the storage shelves 600. Inanother example, the length L of the payload area 1230 and transfer arm1235 may be substantially the same as or larger than the largest itemlength transferred through the system 100 with the item length beingoriented along the longitudinal axis 1470 (FIG. 3F) of the bot 110.

Referring also to FIGS. 3E and 3F, the transfer arm 1235 may include anarray of fingers 1235A, one or more pusher bars 1235B and a fence 1235F.As may be realized, the transfer arm may have any suitable configurationand/or components. The transfer arm 1235 may be configured to extend andretract from the payload area 1230 for transferring loads to and fromthe bot 110. In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the transfer arm1235 may be configured to operate or extend in a unilateral mannerrelative to the longitudinal axis 1470 of the bot (e.g. extend from oneside of the bot in direction 1471) for increasing, for example,reliability of the bot while decreasing the bots complexity and cost. Itis noted that where the transfer arm 1235 is operable only to one sideof the bot 110, the bot may be configured to orient itself for enteringthe picking aisles 130A and/or transfer areas 295 with either the driveend 1298 or the driven end 1299 facing the direction of travel so thatthe operable side of the bot is facing the desired location fordepositing or picking a load. In other aspects of the disclosedembodiment the bot 110 may be configured such that the transfer arm 1235is operable or extendable in a bilateral manner relative to thelongitudinal axis 1470 of the bot (e.g. extendable from both sides ofthe bot in directions 1471 and 1472).

In one example, the fingers 1235A of the transfer arm 1235 may beconfigured such that the fingers 1235A are extendable and retractableindividually or in one or more groups. For example, each finger mayinclude a locking mechanism 1410 that selectively engages each finger1235A to, for example, the frame 1200 of the bot 110 or a movable memberof the transfer arm 1235 such as the pusher bar 1235B. The pusher bar1235B (and any fingers coupled to the pusher bar), for example, may bedriven by any suitable drive such as extension motor 1495. The extensionmotor 1495 may be connected to, for example, the pusher bar, through anysuitable transmission such as, for exemplary purposes only, a belt andpulley system 1495B (FIG. 3E).

In one example, the locking mechanism for coupling the fingers 1235A to,for example, the pusher bar 1235B may be, for example, a cam shaftdriven by motor 1490 that is configured to causeengagement/disengagement of each finger with either the pusher bar orframe. In other examples, the locking mechanism may include individualdevices, such as solenoid latches associated with corresponding ones ofthe fingers 1235A. It is noted that the pusher bar may include a drivefor moving the pusher bar in the direction of arrows 1471, 1472 foreffecting, for example, a change in orientation (e.g. alignment) of aload being carried by the bot 110, gripping a load being carried by thebot 110 or for any other suitable purpose. In one aspect of thedisclosed embodiment, when one or more locking mechanisms 1410 areengaged with, for example, the pusher bar 1235B the respective fingers1235A extend and retract in the direction of arrows 1471, 1472substantially in unison with movement of the pusher bar 1235B while thefingers 1235A whose locking mechanisms 1410 are engaged with, forexample, the frame 1200 remain substantially stationary relative to theframe 1200.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the transfer arm 1235 mayinclude a drive bar 1235D or other suitable drive member. The drive bar1235D may be configured so that it does not directly contact a loadcarried on the bot 110. The drive bar 1235D may be driven by a suitabledrive so that the drive bar 1235D travels in the direction of arrows1471, 1472 in a manner substantially similar to that described abovewith respect to the pusher bar 1235B. In this exemplary embodiment, thelocking mechanisms 1410 may be configured to latch on to the drive bar1235D so that the respective fingers 1235A may be extended and retractedindependent of the pusher bar and vice versa. In other aspects, thepusher bar 1235B may include a locking mechanism substantially similarto locking mechanism 1410 for selectively locking the pusher bar toeither the drive bar 1235D or the frame 1200 where the drive bar isconfigured to cause movement of the pusher bar 1235B when the pusher bar1235B is engaged with the drive bar 1235D.

In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the pusher bar 1235B may be aone-piece bar that spans across all of the fingers 1235A. In otheraspects of the disclosed embodiment, the pusher bar 1235B may be asegmented bar having any suitable number of segments 1235B1, 1235B2.Each segment 1235B1, 1235B2 may correspond to the groups of one or morefingers 1235A such that only the portion of the pusher bar 1235Bcorresponding to the finger(s) 1235A that are to be extended/retractedis moved in the direction of arrows 1471, 1472 while the remainingsegments of the pusher bar 1235B remain stationary so as to avoidmovement of a load located on the stationary fingers 1235A.

The fingers 1235A of the transfer arm 1235 may be spaced apart from eachother by a predetermined distance so that the fingers 1235A areconfigured to pass through or between corresponding support legs 620L1,620L2 of the storage shelves 600 (FIG. 3H) and corresponding supportfingers 910 of the shelves 730 on the multilevel vertical conveyors150A, 150B. In other aspects of the disclosed embodiment the fingers1235A may be configured to pass through corresponding support fingers ofbot transfer stations for passing the bot load to multilevel verticalconveyor through the bot transfer station. The spacing between thefingers 1235A and a length of the fingers of the transfer arm 1235allows an entire length and width of the loads being transferred to andfrom the bot 110 to be supported by the transfer arm 1235.

The transfer arm 1235 may include any suitable lifting device(s) 1235Lconfigured to move the transfer arm 1235 in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to a plane of extension/retraction of the transfer arm1235.

Referring also to FIGS. 3H-3J, in one example, a load (substantiallysimilar to loads 750-753) is acquired from, for example, a storage shelf600 by extending the fingers 1235A of the transfer arm 1235 into thespaces 620S between support legs 620L1, 620L2 of the storage shelf 600and under one or more target items 150O located on the shelf 600. Thetransfer arm lift device 1235L is suitably configured to lift thetransfer arm 1235 for lifting the one or more target items 150O off ofthe shelf 600. The fingers 1235A are retracted so that the one or moretarget items are disposed over the payload area 1230 of the bot 110. Thelift device 1235L lowers the transfer arm 1235 so the one or more targetitems are lowered into the payload area 1230 of the bot 110. In otherexamples, the storage shelves 600 may be configured with a lift motorfor raising and lowering the target items where the transfer arm 1235 ofthe bot 110 does not include a lift device 1235L. FIG. 3I illustrates anextension of three of the fingers 1235A for transferring a load 150I.FIG. 3J shows a shelf 1550 having two items or loads 1502, 1503 locatedside by side. In FIG. 3J, three fingers 1235A of the transfer arm 1235are extended for acquiring only load 1502 from the shelf 1550. As can beseen in FIG. 3J, it is noted that the loads carried by the bots 110 mayinclude one or more product totes PT and/or order totes CT (e.g. load1502 includes two separate boxes and load 1503 includes three separateboxes). It is also noted that in one exemplary embodiment the extensionof the transfer arm 1235 may be controlled for retrieving apredetermined number of items from an array of items. For example, thefingers 1235A in FIG. 3J may be extended so that only item 1502A isretrieved while item 1502B remains on the shelf 1550. In anotherexample, the fingers 1235A may be extended only part way into a shelf600 (e.g. an amount less than the depth D of the shelf 600) so that afirst item located at, for example, the front of the shelf (e.g.adjacent the picking aisle) is picked while a second item located at theback of the shelf, behind the first item, remains on the shelf.

As noted above the bot 110 may include a retractable fence 1235F.Referring to FIGS. 3K-3N, the fence 1235F may be movably mounted to theframe 1200 of the bot 110 in any suitable manner so that the loads, suchas load 1600, pass over the retracted fence 1235F as the loads aretransferred to and from the bot payload area 1230 as can be seen in FIG.3K. Once the load 1600 is located in the payload area 1230, the fence1235F may be raised or extended by any suitable drive motor 1610 so thatthe fence 1235F extends above the fingers 1235A of the bot 110 forsubstantially preventing the load 1600 from moving out of the payloadarea 1230 as can be seen in FIG. 3L. The bot 110 may be configured togrip the load 1600 to, for example, secure the load during transport.For example, the pusher bar 1235B may move in the direction of arrow1620 towards the fence 1235F such that the load 1600 is sandwiched orgripped between the pusher bar 1235B and the fence 1235F as can be seenin FIGS. 3M and 3N. As may be realized, the bot 110 may include suitablesensors for detecting a pressure exerted on the load 1600 by the pusherbar 1235B and/or fence 1235F so as to prevent damaging the load 1600. Inalternate embodiments, the load 1600 may be gripped by the bot 110 inany suitable manner.

Referring again to FIGS. 3F and 3G, the bot 110 may include a roller bed1235RB disposed in the payload area 1230. The roller bed 1235RB mayinclude one or more rollers 1235R disposed transversely to thelongitudinal axis 1470 of the bot 110. The rollers 1235R may be disposedwithin the payload area 1230 such that the rollers 1235R and the fingers1235A are alternately located so that the fingers 1235A may pass betweenthe rollers 1235R for transferring items to and from the payload area1230 as described above. One or more pushers 1235P may be disposed inthe payload area 1230 such that a contact member of the one or morepushers 1235P extends and retracts in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rollers 1235R. The one ormore pushers 1235P may be configured to push the load 1600 back andforth within the payload area 1230 in the direction of arrow 1266 (e.g.substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis 1470 of the bot 110)along the rollers 1235R for adjusting a position of the load 1600longitudinally within the payload area 1230. In other aspects of thedisclosed embodiment, the rollers 1235R may be driven rollers such thata controller of, for example, the bot drives the rollers for moving theload 1600 such that the load is positioned at a predetermined locationwithin the payload area 1230. In still other aspects of the disclosedembodiment the load may be moved to the predetermined location withinthe payload area in any suitable manner. The longitudinal adjustment ofthe load 1600 within the payload area 1230 may allow for positioning ofthe loads 1600 for transferring the loads from the payload area to, forexample, a storage location or other suitable location such as themultilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O.

It is noted that the bots 110 may be configured to communicate withother bots 110 in the storage and retrieval system 12 to form apeer-to-peer collision avoidance system so that bots can travelthroughout the storage and retrieval system 12 at predetermineddistances from each other in a manner substantially similar to thatdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/757,337, entitled“CONTROL SYSTEM FOR STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS,” previouslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. It is also noted thatthe description of the bot 110 herein is exemplary only and that the botor transport vehicle can have nay suitable configuration fortransporting loads between storage locations and the conveyors 150I,150O.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5F the conveyors 150I, 150O (generally referred toas conveyors 150) will be described in greater detail. It is noted thatthe input multilevel vertical conveyor 150I and associated transferstations 170I may be substantially similar to the out-feed multilevelvertical conveyors 150O and associated out-feed transfer stations 170Obut for the direction of material flow to/from the storage and retrievalsystem 12. As may be realized, the storage and retrieval system 12 mayinclude multiple in-feed and out-feed multilevel vertical conveyors150I, 150O that are accessible by, for example, bots 110 on each levelof the storage and retrieval system 12 (through e.g. transfer stations295) so that one or more product totes PT or order totes CT can betransferred from a multilevel vertical conveyor 150I, 150O to eachstorage space on a respective level and from each storage space to anyone of the multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O on a respectivelevel. The bots 110 may be configured to transfer the product totes PTand order totes CT between the storage spaces and the multilevelvertical conveyors with one pick (e.g. substantially directly betweenthe storage spaces and the multilevel vertical conveyors). By way offurther example, the designated bot 110 picks the product totes PT andorder totes CT from a shelf of a multilevel vertical conveyor,transports the product totes PT and order totes CT to a predeterminedstorage area of the storage structure 130 and places the product totesPT and order totes CT in the predetermined storage area (and viceversa). It is noted that the product totes PT and order totes CT may bestored in the storage and retrieval system 12 in substantially randomlocations so that there are multiple paths for accessing each of theproduct totes PT and order totes CT.

Generally, the multilevel vertical conveyors include payload shelves 730(FIGS. 5A-5F) attached to chains or belts that form continuously movingor circulating vertical loops (the shape of the loop shown in the Figs.is merely exemplary and it should be understood that the loop may haveany suitable shape including rectangular and serpentine) that move at asubstantially constant rate, so that the shelves 730 use what may bereferred to as the “paternoster” principle of continuous conveyance,with loading and unloading performed at any point in the loop withoutslowing or stopping. The multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O may becontrolled by a server, such as for example, control server 120, or anyother suitable controller. One or more suitable computer workstations700 may be connected to the multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O andthe server 120 in any suitable manner (e.g. wired or wirelessconnection) for providing, as an example, inventory management,multilevel vertical conveyor functionality and control, and customerorder fulfillment. As may be realized, the computer workstations 700and/or server 120 may be programmed to control the in-feed and/orout-feed conveyor systems. In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment,one or more of the workstations 700 and control server 120 may include acontrol cabinet, a programmable logic controller and variable frequencydrives for driving the multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O. Inother aspects of the disclosed embodiment the workstations 700 and/orcontrol server 120 may have any suitable components and configuration.

The multilevel vertical conveyors 150 may include a frame 710 configuredto support driven members such as, for example, chains 720. The chains720 may be coupled to the shelves 730, which are movably mounted to theframe 710 such that the chains 720 effect substantially continuousmovement of the shelves 730 around the frame 710. In alternateembodiments, any suitable drive link, such as for example, belts orcables may be used to drive the shelves 730. The shelves may include aplatform 900 which may include, for example, any suitably shaped frame911, which in this example is generally “U” shaped (e.g. having lateralmembers connected by a span member at one end), and any suitable numberof spaced apart fingers 910 extending from the frame 911. The fingers910 may be configured for supporting the product totes PT and ordertotes CT. In one example, each of the fingers 910 may be removablyfastened to a frame 911 for facilitating replacement or repair ofindividual fingers 910. The fingers 910 and frame 911 may form anintegral structure or platform that defines the seating surface thatcontacts and supports the product totes PT and order totes CT. It isnoted that the shelf 730 illustrates only a representative structure andin other aspects of the disclosed embodiment, the shelves 730 may haveany suitable configuration and size for transporting product totes PTand order totes CT. The spaced apart fingers 910 are configured tointerface with, for example, a transfer arm or effector of the bots 110and the in-feed transfer stations 170 for transferring the product totesPT and order totes CT between the multilevel vertical conveyors 150 andone or more of the transfer stations 170 and bots 110.

The multilevel vertical conveyors 150 may also include a suitablestabilizing device(s), such as for example, driven stabilizing chainsfor stabilizing the shelves 730 during vertical travel. In one example,the stabilizing devices may include chain driven dogs that are engagedto the shelves in both the upward and downward directions to form, forexample, a three point engagement with the shelf 730. The drive chains720 for the shelves 730 and stabilizing devices may be drivingly coupledto for example, any suitable number of drive motors under the controlof, for example, one or more of the computer workstations 700 andcontrol server 120.

In one exemplary embodiment there may be any suitable number of shelves730 mounted and attached to the drive chains 720. As can be seen in FIG.5B each shelf 730 may be configured to carry, for exemplary purposesonly, at any suitable number of product totes PT and order totes CT inrespective positions, such as positions A, C on the shelf 730 (e.g. asingle vertical conveyor is functionally equivalent to multipleindividually operated conveyors arranged adjacent one another).

As may be realized, each multilevel vertical conveyor 150 maycommunicate non-deterministically with the each storage location of thestorage shelves 600 (e.g. each conveyor is common to all storageshelves). For example, as described above, the bots 110 on each level ofthe storage and retrieval system 12 are able to travel along thetransfer deck 130B and picking aisles 130A of the respective level sothat each bot 110 can access any one of the multilevel verticalconveyors 150 and any one of the storage spaces of the storage shelves600 on the respective level (e.g. each bot is common to all storagelocations and conveyors 150). As described above, the bots are able totake multiple paths to any given storage location so that if one path issubstantially blocked there is another path available to reach thestorage location or anther path available to another storage locationholding a desired product tote PT or order tote CT that is substantiallythe same as the product tote PT or order tote CT located in the blockedaisle. Because of the multiple paths and random storage locations (e.g.at least product totes having the same items are stored at random orspaced apart locations in the storage system 12) the bots 110 allowseach multilevel vertical conveyor 150 to be non-deterministically incommunication with each storage location within the storage andretrieval system 12.

In operation, referring also to FIGS. 5C-5F, product totes PT and/ororder totes CT (e.g. from workstations 24) that are being transferredinto the storage area 130 of the storage and retrieval system 12 areloaded on and will circulate around the multilevel vertical conveyors150I and be removed from a respective conveyor by, for example, one ormore bots 110 for placement in a storage area of the storage structure(FIG. 5G, Blocks 8000 and 8010). As will be described further below, inthe exemplary embodiments the input loading sequencing of case unitsonto the multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O (e.g. such as atcorresponding feeder input sides of transfer stations 170I and bottransfer locations on respective storage levels) may be substantiallyindependent from the output or unloading sequence of the multilevelvertical conveyors 150I, 150O (e.g. such as at corresponding outputsides of transfer stations 170O and bot transfer locations on respectivestorage levels) and vice versa. In one example, the product totes PTand/or order totes CT may be loaded onto the shelves 730 during anupward travel of the multilevel vertical conveyor 150 and off loadedfrom the shelves 730 during downward travel of the multilevel verticalconveyor 150. By way of example, multilevel vertical conveyor shelves730 i and 730 ii (FIG. 5D) may be loaded sequentially, but whenunloaded, shelf 730 ii may be unloaded before shelf 730 i. As may berealized, the multilevel vertical conveyors form what may be referred toas sorters enabling the sortation of containers entering the multilevelvertical conveyor (such as delivered by bots 110 from storage shelflocations), to be different from the sortation of containers leaving themultilevel vertical conveyor, and vice versa. It is noted that theshelves 730 may be loaded through one or more cycles of the multilevelvertical conveyor. In other examples the product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT (generally referred to as reference number 150O in thedrawings) may be loaded or off loaded from the shelves 730 in anysuitable manner. As may be realized, the position of the case units onthe multilevel vertical conveyor shelf 730 defines the position that thebot 110 picks from. The bot may be configured to pick any suitableproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT from the shelf 730 regardless ofthe position on the shelf 730 or the size of the product totes PT and/ororder totes CT. In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the storageand retrieval system 12 may include a bot positioning system forpositioning the bot adjacent the shelves 730 for picking a desired totefrom a predetermined one of the shelves 730 (e.g. the bot 110 ispositioned so as to be aligned with the product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT). The bot positioning system may also be configured tocorrelate the extension of a bot transfer arm with the movement (e.g.speed and location) of the shelves 730 so that the transfer arm isextended and retracted to remove (or place) product totes PT and/ororder totes CT from predetermined shelves 730 of the multilevel verticalconveyors 150I, 150O. For exemplary purposes only, the bot 110 may beinstructed by, for example, the computer workstation 700 or controlserver 120 (FIG. 5A) to extend the transfer arm into the path of travelof the product totes PT and/or order totes CT. As the product totes PTand/or order totes CT are carried by the multilevel vertical conveyor150I in the direction of arrow 860 fingers of the bot the transfer armpass through the fingers 910 of the shelf 730 for transferring theproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT from the shelf 730 to thecarriage system 1135 (e.g. the product totes PT and/or order totes CTare lifted from the fingers 910 via relative movement of the shelf 730and the bot transfer arm). As may be realized, the pitch P betweenshelves may be any suitable distance for allowing the transfer ofproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT between the multilevel verticalconveyor and the bots 110 while the shelves 730 are circulating aroundthe multilevel vertical conveyor at a substantially continuous rate. Thebot transfer arm may be retracted in any suitable manner so that theproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT is no longer located in the pathof travel of the shelves 730 of the multilevel vertical conveyor 150A.The carriage system 1130 may be fully retracted as shown in FIG. 3N fortransfer of the product totes PT and/or order totes CT to a bot 110.

It is noted that the multilevel vertical conveyors 150O (and conveyors150I) are configured to allow the totes, containers and/or case units tocontinuously revolve around the conveyor loop so that the case units canbe moved to, for example, an out-feed transfer station 170O (or in-feedtransfer station 170I) at any suitable time for fulfilling an order. Forexample, a first tote is placed on a first shelf of the multilevelvertical conveyor 150O and a second tote is placed on a second shelf ofthe multilevel vertical conveyor 150O where the first shelf is locatedin front of the second shelf in a sequence of shelves of the multilevelvertical conveyor 150O and the second tote is to be provided to theout-feed transfer station 170O before the first tote. The first shelf(holding the first tote) may be allowed to pass the out-feed transferstation without unloading the first tote to allow the second tote to beremoved from the second shelf. Thus, the totes may be placed on theshelves of the multilevel vertical conveyor 150O in any order. Theout-feed transfer station 170O removes the totes from a desired shelf ofthe multilevel vertical conveyor at a desired time (as described herein)so that the individual totes are transported to outbound pallets (orother suitable container-like transport supports) in, for example, apredetermined sequence for shipping to a customer.

Referring to FIGS. 5D and 5F, for transferring product totes PT and/ororder totes CT in the outbound direction (e.g. moving product totes PTand/or order totes CT 150O from or out of the storage and retrievalsystem) the bots 110 pick one or more product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT 1150, from a respective predetermined storage area of thestorage structure (FIG. 5G, Block 8020). As may be realized, the producttotes PT are picked from the storage area 130 according to, for example,orders that are to be filled. For example, controller 120 can inform oneor more bots of an order that is to be filled and instruct the bots topick predetermined product totes for filling the order. In one aspect,the product totes can be picked in a batch, e.g. substantially at thesame time or one after another and placed on a conveyor 150O in apredetermined sequence. The product totes PT and/or order totes CT maybe extended into the path of the shelves 730 of the multilevel verticalconveyor 150O (which is substantially similar to conveyor 150I) by thetransfer arm of bot 110 through an extension of the bot transfer armrelative to a frame of the bot 110. It is noted that the product totesPT and/or order totes CT 1150, may be placed on the multilevel verticalconveyor 150O in a first predetermined order sequence (FIG. 5G, Block8030). The first predetermined order may be any suitable order. Thesubstantially continuous rate of movement of the shelves 730 in thedirection of arrow 870 cause the fingers 910 of the shelf 730 to passthrough the fingers of the bot transfer arm such that the movement ofthe shelf 730 effects lifting the pickface 1150 from the fingers of thebot transfer arm. The pickface 1150 travels around the multilevelvertical conveyor 150O to an out-feed transfer station 170O (which issubstantially similar to in-feed transfer station 170I) where is itremoved from the shelf 730 in any suitable manner, such as through asuitable conveyor system. The product totes PT and/or order totes CT maybe removed from the multilevel vertical conveyor 150O by, for examplethe out-feed transfer stations 170O in a second predetermined ordersequence that may be different and independent from the firstpredetermined order sequence (FIG. 5G, Block 8040). The secondpredetermined order sequence may depend on any suitable factors such as,for example, product need item packing backlogs, or order of delivery ofthe product totes PT and/or order totes CT to the modules 20. It isnoted that the respective transfer of product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT between the multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O and thein-feed and out-feed transfer stations 170I, 170O may occur in anysuitable manner.

It is noted that the control server 120, for example, may be configuredto order the removal of product totes PT and/or order totes CT from thestorage and retrieval system 12 for any suitable purpose, in addition toorder fulfillment. In the exemplary embodiments, the distribution (e.g.sortation) of containers, such e.g. as the product totes PT and ordertotes CT, in the storage and retrieval system 12 is such that thecontainers can be provided for delivery to a module 20 in any suitableorder at any desired rate using any desirable sortation sequences. Thecontrol server 120 may also be configured to incorporate, for example,store plan rules when fulfilling orders so that the product totes PTand/or order totes CT are provided by the bots 110 to respectivemultilevel vertical conveyors 150O in a first predetermined sequence(e.g. a first sortation of case units) and then removed from therespective multilevel vertical conveyors 150O in a second predeterminedsequence (e.g. a second sortation of case units) so that items from theproduct totes PT can be placed in order totes CT or the order totes CTmay be placed on pallets or other suitable shipping containers/devices)in a predetermined order (see e.g. FIG. 5G described above). Forexample, in a first sortation of product totes PT and/or order totes CTthe bots 110 may pick respective product totes PT and/or order totes CTin any order. The bots 110 may traverse the picking aisles and transferdeck (e.g. circulate around the transfer deck) with the picked producttotes PT and/or order totes CT until a predetermined time when theproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT are to be delivered to apredetermined multilevel vertical conveyor 150O. In a second sortationof containers, once the containers are on the multilevel verticalconveyor 150O the containers, such as the product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT may circulate around the conveyor until a predetermined timewhen the product totes PT and/or order totes CT are to be delivered tothe out-feed transfer station 170O. It is noted that the order ofcontainers delivered to the modules 20 may correspond to, for example,any suitable packing rules. The rules may incorporate, for example, anaisle layout in the customer's store or a family group of itemscorresponding to, for example, a particular location in the store wherethe order tote CT will be unloaded or a type of goods. The order ofproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT delivered to the modules 20 mayalso correspond to characteristics of the products such as, for example,dimensions, weight and a durability of the product totes PT and/or ordertotes CT. For example, containers having crushable items therein may bedelivered to the module for placement in an order tote CT after heaviermore durable items are delivered to the module 20.

The control server 120 in combination with the structural/mechanicalarchitecture of the storage and retrieval system enables maximum loadbalancing. As described herein, the storage spaces/storage locations aredecoupled from the transport of the product totes PT and/or order totesCT through the storage and retrieval system 12. For example, the storagevolume (e.g. the distribution of product totes PT and/or order totes CTin storage) is independent of and does not affect throughput of theproduct totes PT and/or order totes CT through the storage and retrievalsystem 12. The storage array space may be substantially uniformlydistributed with respect to output. The horizontal sortation (e.g. foreach storage level, a first bot 110 may traverse, for example, thetransfer deck 130B for any suitable amount of time to, for example,allow other bots to pick respective containers of the order and deliverthose containers to the multilevel vertical conveyor 150O if thecontainers of the other bots are to be delivered to the multilevelvertical conveyor before the containers of the first bot 110) and highspeed bots 110 and the vertical sortation by the multilevel verticalconveyors 150O substantially creates a storage array space that issubstantially uniformly distributed relative to an output location fromthe storage array (e.g. an out-feed transfer station 170O of amultilevel vertical conveyor 150O). The substantially uniformlydistributed storage space array also allows product totes PT and/ororder totes CT to be output at a desired substantially constant ratefrom each out-feed transfer station 170O such that the product totes PTand/or order totes CT are provided in any desired order. To effect themaximum load balancing, the control architecture of the control server120 may be such that the control server 120 does not relate the storagespaces within the storage structure (e.g. the storage array) to themultilevel vertical conveyors 150O based on a geographical location ofthe storage spaces (which would result in a virtual partitioning of thestorage spaces) relative to the multilevel vertical conveyors 150O (e.g.the closest storage spaces to the multilevel vertical conveyor are notallocated to cases moving from/to that multilevel vertical conveyor).Rather, the control server 120 may map the storage spaces uniformly toeach multilevel vertical conveyor 150O and then select bots 110, storagelocations and output multilevel vertical conveyor 150O shelf placementso that containers from any location in the storage structure come outfrom any desired multilevel vertical conveyor output (e.g. at theout-feed transfer stations) at a predetermined substantially constantrate in a desired order for filling order totes CT and customer orders.

It is noted that the control server 120 may be configured to communicatewith the bots 110, multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O, in-feed orout-feed transfer stations 170I, 170O and other suitablefeatures/components of the storage and retrieval system 12 in anysuitable manner. The bots 110, multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150Oand transfer stations 170I, 170O may each have respective controllersthat communicate with the control server 120 for conveying and/orreceiving, for example, a respective operational status, location (inthe case of the bots 110) or any other suitable information. The controlserver may record the information sent by the bots 110, multilevelvertical conveyors 150I, 150O and transfer stations 170I, 170O for usein, for example, planning order fulfillment or replenishment tasks.

As may be realized any suitable controller of the storage and retrievalsystem such as for example, control server 120, may be configured tocreate any suitable number of alternate pathways for retrieving one ormore product or order totes from their respective storage locations whena pathway providing access to those containers is restricted or blocked.For example, the control server 120 may include suitable programming,memory and other structure for analyzing the information sent by thebots 110, multilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O and transfer stations170I, 170O for planning a bot's 110 primary or preferred route to apredetermined item within the storage structure. The preferred route maybe the fastest and/or most direct route that the bot 110 can take toretrieve the item. In other examples the preferred route may be anysuitable route. The control server 120 may also be configured to analyzethe information sent by the bots 110, multilevel vertical conveyors150I, 150O and transfer stations 170I, 170O for determining if there areany obstructions along the preferred route. If there are obstructionsalong the preferred route the control server may determine one or moresecondary or alternate routes for retrieving the containers so that theobstruction is avoided and the containers can be retrieved without anysubstantial delay in, for example, fulfilling an order. It should berealized that the bot route planning may also occur on the bot 110itself by, for example, any suitable controller system, such as controlsystem 1220 (FIG. 3A) onboard the bot 110. As an example, the botcontrol system 1220 may be configured to communicate with the controlserver 120 for accessing the information from other bots 110, themultilevel vertical conveyors 150I, 150O and the transfer stations 170I,170O for determining the preferred and/or alternate routes for accessingan item in a manner substantially similar to that described above. It isnoted that the bot control system 1220 may include any suitableprogramming, memory and/or other structure to effect the determinationof the preferred and/or alternate routes.

Referring to FIG. 1, the warehousing system 12 interfaces or isotherwise coupled to the replenishment and order fulfillment system 20(which may be located within the facility as shown for example).Accordingly, the warehousing system 12 and replenishment and orderfulfillment 20 are substantially integrated so that both the warehousestorage placement and retrieval flow or stream (of cases and totes)effected by the warehousing system 12 and the replenishment and orderfulfillment flow or stream (of product cases or totes and order totes)effected by the replenishment and order fulfillment system may beprocessed and controlled by a control system (not shown) operablyconnected to and communicating with both the warehousing system 12 andreplenishment and order fulfillment system 20. As may be realized, thecontrol system 120 in response to suitable programming and commandsselecting a desired order, from a store or customer, (which order,having one or more order lines) for fulfillment initiates a suitablecommand protocol causing the warehousing system to retrieve a desiredproduct case or tote and transfer it to the replenishment system 20. Thecontrol system 120 then may operate the replenishment system 20 so thatthe desired containers corresponding to the order line are picked fromthe product case/tote PT and placed into an order tote CT correspondingto the store/customer order. The control system 120 and replenishmentsystem 20 are configured for effecting optimal picking and transfer ofunits from product cases/totes PT to order totes CT, as will bedescribed further below. The order fulfillment sequence (e.g. sequenceof filling of order totes) effected by the replenishment system 20 andcontrol system 120, and hence the retrieval sequence of the warehousingsystem feeding the replenishment system may be decoupled from theshipment load sequence (i.e. the sequence in which the order totes areloaded, for example onto pallets and/or trucks for shipment from thefacility). Filled order totes CT may be transported and stored via thewarehousing system 12 in storage locations (for example distributedamongst product cases/totes, or in segregated locations) awaitingretrieval according to the shipment load sequence. The order fulfillmentsequence may be arranged so that one product tote PT can fill multipleorder totes CT in the replenishment system as will be described ingreater detail below. Thus, multiple order totes, each of which may havedifferent order lines (i.e. each of the order totes may correspond todifferent stores) but having common order items (all ordering commongood unit(s)) may be filled from one (or more) product cases/totecontaining the desired good unit(s). As may be realized, this providesthe greatest concurrence between product totes PT and order totes OT,hence minimizing the picks and retrievals by the warehousing system 12and maximizing throughput (order fulfillment) for a given or minimumflow of totes/cases through the arteries of the warehousing system andreplenishment system.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 6A, there is shown a schematic perspectiveview of what may be referred to as a module (in that this section issubstantially integrated to operate as a unit) of the replenishmentsystem 20. For example, referring again to FIG. 1, the facility is shownas having a number of modules 20 (five are shown for example purposes)though in alternate embodiments the facility may have any suitablenumber (one or more). The section 20 of the replenishment system mayalso be considered as being a module in the sense that the section maybe coupled, in the fashion of a module, to input and output locations(e.g. the input and output MVC's 150, see also FIGS. 5-5F) of thewarehousing system. The replenishment module 20 may be configured toform what may be referred to for purposes of description, orderfulfillment cells 22. Each order fulfillment cell 22 may have one ormore (two are shown for example) order fulfillment stations 24A, 24B.The order fulfillment cells 22 are arranged to facilitate picking fromone (or more) product container(s) or tote(s) PT in the replenishmentmodule 20 to one or more order containers or totes CT in thereplenishment module. In other words, a product tote(s) PT may remainwithin a replenishment module 20 until all order totes CT at thefulfillment stations 24 that are to receive good units (at that time)from the product tote have received the ordered unit (at which time theproduct tote is returned to the warehousing system) or until the producttote is empty (when the product tote is sent for filling with commongoods units). The configuration of the module and cells is exemplary andin alternate embodiment may have any suitable configuration.

As noted before, the module 20 may be coupled to the warehousing systemby infeed and outfeed stations such as MVC's 150I, 150O. One infeed andone outfeed station is shown for example, but a module may have one ormore infeed and one or more outfeed stations. Also one MVC 150 is shownat each of the infeed and outfeed stations for example, and in alternateembodiments the infeed and outfeed stations may have one or more MVC's(and/or other suitable lifts) at each of the infeed 150I and outfeed150O sections. Each cell 22 may include, for example a product tote/caseconveyor 32 (all other suitable transport), see FIG. 7A, an order toteconveyor 34, see FIG. 7C, (the term conveyor is used herein to refer tothe transports in the module for convenience, and it should beunderstood that the transport may be of any suitable type andconfiguration not limited to conveyors), an empty product tote conveyor36, see FIG. 7D, a replenishment product tote induction conveyor 38, seeFIG. 7E, and an order staging conveyor 40, see also FIG. 7F.

In the exemplary embodiment the product tote conveyor 32 may be closedloop, serving to convey product totes PT and/or partially filled ordertotes CT from the storage area 130 (fed by the input station MVC 150I)to the workstations of the replenishment cells. It is noted that theproduct tote conveyor 32 of each module 20 may be connected in anysuitable manner, such as with suitable conveyor paths, to each of thevertical conveyors 150O so that product totes can be transferred fromany one of the conveyors 150O to any one of the workstations in themodules 20 (e.g. each conveyor 150O is common to all of the modules 20and workstations 24). For example, transfer station 170O may connect theconveyor 32 to a respective multilevel vertical conveyor 150O fortransferring product totes PT from storage area 130 to the conveyor 32.As may be realized, the conveyor 32 may also be coupled, in any suitablemanner, to conveyor 13 for transferring product totes PT substantiallydirectly from storage system 100 to the conveyor 32 without the producttotes PT going into the storage area 130. Here, the conveyor 32 may alsocommunicate with each workstation 24A, 24B of each replenishment cell22. Accordingly, one product tote(s) may be moved if desired, to one ormore of each of the replenishment workstations until all order totes CTat the fulfillment stations 24 that are to receive good units from theproduct tote (at that time) have received the ordered unit (at whichtime the product tote is returned to the warehousing system) or untilthe product tote is empty (when the product tote is sent for fillingwith common goods units). As can be seen in FIG. 7A the conveyor 32forms, for example, transport loops L1-L3 that are configured to allowthe product totes PT to travel substantially continuously aroundconveyor 32 for sorting and transporting the product totes PT to each ofthe workstations 24A, 24B. As may be realized the conveyor 32 may havestations 32A, 32B corresponding to the workstations 24A, 24B where theproduct tote(s) may be stopped for picking by the operator at theworkstation. The stations 32A, 32B may have any suitable configurationto minimize operator movement while filling order totes CT. For example,the stations 32A, 32B may have a curved or angled configuration to biasthe conveyor in a direction of the access by the operator (e.g. theright side of the station may be angled towards or away from theoperator and the left side of the stations may be angled towards or awayfrom the operator where the apex of an angle or curve formed by the leftand right side of the station is located at a position adjacent theoperator and substantially at a center of the station). Suitable buffersand interfaces may be included to enable product totes to stop at thedesired stations 32A, 32B while other portions of the conveyor continueto move product totes along the conveyor. As may be realized the loopsL1-L3 may be configured to allow, for example, misqueued product totesto travel around the loops so that the misqueued products totes areplaced in a desired order for filling order totes substantially withoutdisrupting a flow of product totes to the workstations. One or moretemporary storage queues 32Q may also be part of the conveyor 32 at, forexample, locations between workstations 24 and/or between theworkstations 24 and the conveyors 150I, 150O so that totes can bedelivered to the queues 32Q and released to the workstations at asuitable time for a further sortation of the totes. It is noted that thestorage queues 32Q may be located at any suitable portion of conveyor32. As seen in FIG. 7A, in one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, theconveyor 32 may have an output to the output station MVC(s) 150O. Afurther output 320 may be provided to route empty product totes to theempty product tote return conveyor 36 (see also FIG. 7D) for return to aproduct tote fill station (not shown) in the facility. Suitableautomated gates or fences or other directional devices (under thecontrol of, e.g., controller 120) may be provided for directing thetotes along a predetermined route on the different portions of conveyor32.

In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the order tote or orderconveyor 34 is arranged to communicate with each replenishmentworkstation 24A, 24B of the module 20 and may transport what may beinbound empty order totes CT to each workstation. It is noted that theorder conveyor 34 may have one or more storage queues 34Q located at anysuitable portion of the conveyor 34 for temporarily storing order totesin a manner substantially similar to that described above with respectto storage queues 32Q. As seen best in FIGS. 6, 6A and 7C, the orderconveyor 34 communicates with both (e.g. left and right) sides of eachworkstation, and has stations 34SI, 34SO (which will be described ingreater detail below) respectively on both left and right sides of eachworkstation where order totes CT are stopped for filling. As may berealized, the order conveyor 34 may have a looped arrangement, similarto that described above with respect to conveyor 32 so that anymisqueued order totes can travel around the one or more loopssubstantially without disrupting a flow of order totes on conveyor 34 sothat the misqueued order totes are placed in a proper location orsequence for filling as the workstations 24. In an aspect of thedisclosed embodiment, the product conveyor 32 and order conveyor 34 maybe offset vertically (at least at the workstations) as shown in FIGS.7-7C, with the product conveyor 32 extending across what may be referredto as the front of the workstation and the order conveyor 34 extendingalong both left and right sides of the workstation. As may be realized,the order conveyor 34 includes an input 341 that, in one aspect, isconnected to the multilevel vertical conveyor 150O through transferstation 170O so that order totes CT may be transferred from the storagearea 130 back to the workstations 24A, 24B if additional items are to beadded to order tote CT after an initial filling of the order tote CT. Inanother aspect, the input 341 may also be connected in any suitablemanner to an order tote supply area (not shown) for supplying emptyorder totes to the workstations 24A, 24B. The conveyor 34 may have anoutput 340 that directs the filled ordered totes CT to, for example,conveyor 150I through transfer station 170I for induction into thestorage area 130. The output 340 may be connected to each of theconveyors 150I in any suitable manner, such as through suitable conveyorpaths, so that the order totes CT output from each module 20 can beinducted into the storage area 130 using any one of the conveyors 150I(e.g. each conveyor 150I is common to each module 20 and workstation24). As may be realized, the output 340 may also be connected to, forexample, order staging conveyor 40 for substantially directlytransferring filled order totes CT to a staging area for shipping thefilled order tote CT to a customer. Suitable automated gates or fencesor other directional devices (under the control of, e.g., controller120) may be provided for directing the order totes along a predeterminedroute on the different portions of conveyor 34.

Referring also to FIGS. 8A-8C and 7D, there is shown respectiveschematic views of the front, back and partial back of a representativeworkstation 24A. The workstations 24 may be arranged in opposing pairswithin each loop L1-L3 of the module 20 (FIG. 7D). For example, as canbe seen in FIG. 7D, using loop L3 as an example, the conveyor 32 mayhave a first and second longitudinal conveyor portions 32L1, 32L2. Crossor lateral conveyor portions, such as portions 32C1, 32C2 may extendbetween the longitudinal portions 32L1, 32L2 to form, for example, loopL3. Stations 32A, 32B are located on respective ones of these crossconveyor portions 32C1, 32C2. An access path AP is provided for each ofthe workstation pairs 24A, 24B and is configured so that the path APallows an operator to enter one of the opposing workstations 24A, 24B.Workstations may be similar and, as may be realized, the workstation isarranged substantially symmetrically so that the operator may pick andfill orders ambidextrously, e.g. substantially simultaneously with bothleft and right hands. Each workstation may be configured to account forthe handedness of the operator and include handedness features foreffecting the filling of order totes as will be described below.

In one aspect, active order totes CTAI, CTAO are positioned, through forexample controller 120 or any other suitable manner, ergonomically atthe operator left and right hand sides (I, O) to be filled. As describedabove, buffered order totes may also be positioned ergonomically at theoperator's sides for opportunistic picking or order fulfillment. (FIG.12, Block 2200). As an example, of opportunistic picking, if there areorder totes (e.g. active and/or buffered) that require the same itemsfrom a product tote, the controller 120, for example, may be configuredto cause a retrieval of one or more product totes PT and direct theretrieved product totes PT to the stations 32A, 32B in respectiveindexed positions, as will be described below. (FIG. 12, Block 2210).The controller 120 may also be configured to give the operator a handedor directional indication (e.g. an aural or visual indication in amanner substantially similar to that described below) to place apredetermined number of items into the active order totes CTAI, CTAO(FIG. 12, Block 2220) using both hands of the user (e.g. the left handmoves items from and to containers on the operator's left side and theright hand moves items from and to containers on the operator's righthand side) (FIG. 12, Block 2230). Once the items are transferred to theactive the respective order totes controller 120 will provide theoperator with another handed indication (e.g. aural or visual in amanner substantially similar to that described below) to transfer apredetermined amount of items to one or more of the buffered order totes(e.g. multiple orders are filled from one product tote so that items aretaken from the product tote and transferred to both the active producttote and one or more buffered product totes while the product toteremains at the workstation). (FIG. 12, Blocks 2240 and 2250). Once theitems are transferred from the product tote to each of the active andbuffered order totes the controller 120 is configured to cause theremoval of the product totes from the workstation so that a new set ofproduct totes arrive at the active product tote stations LH, RH. (FIG.12, Block 2260). As can be seen in FIGS. 8A-8C the active order totesCTAI, CTAO are shown as being angled toward the operator but it shouldbe understood that the active order totes CTAI, CTAO may have anysuitable spatial relationship with respect to the operator. A revolvingor other suitable transfer system AL may be provided to move one or moreorder totes at the workstation between active (being filled) andbuffered positions (e.g. arrayed at the conveyor station 34SI, 34IO).For example, the transfer system AL may be configure to lift the one ormore order totes from the conveyor 34 to an ergonomic height and thentilt the one or more order totes to allow transfer of items from theproduct totes to the order totes with minimal operator movement. As maybe realized, some of the buffered totes may be lifted by the lift AL toa position for filling so that the buffered totes can be filledopportunistically as described above. As noted previously, each ordertote may correspond to unique store order, and hence the active ordertotes CTAI, CTAO respectively on the sides I, O of the operator may havedifferent order lives (and thus may be filled from different producttotes.

In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the control system 120 may beprogrammed so that the product totes PT queued to a workstationcorrelate to the active order totes CTAI, CTAO positioned at the stationas well as the relative side or position of the order tote CTAI, CTAOwhen realizing the active platform of the workstation (e.g.deterministic order fulfillment or picking, where only the active ordertotes CTAI, CTAO receive items from a respective one of the activeproduct totes PTAI, PTAO). It is noted that the order totes may bepositioned at the workstations in sequence corresponding to customerorder or in any other suitable sequence. (FIG. 13, Block 2300).Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, by way of example, the product totesbuffered (see e.g. totes PTIB, PTOB in FIG. 9B) at the workstation (seeFIG. 9A) are sequenced, such as in an alternating PTI, PTO sequence, tocorrespond to the lines of the respective active (and buffered) ordertotes CTAI, CTAO on the respective sides I, 0 of the workstation. Forexample, the product totes may be supplied to the workstation 24 inpairs (e.g. one product tote PT to be accessed with the left hand of theoperator and one product tote to be accessed by the right hand of theoperator) where each product tote includes only one SKU or product type.(FIG. 13, Block 2310). The product conveyor 32 may be configured (e.g.through commands from the controller 120 and suitable sensors) to indexthe product totes along the conveyor 32 for placing the product totes atthe proper location for the hand (e.g. left or right hand) of theoperator to pick and place the items in an order tote at a correspondingside of the operator. (FIG. 13, Block 2320). In the exemplaryembodiment, where the conveyor 32 feeds product totes from one side, theproduct totes PTIB, PTOB that are buffered at the workstation may bemoved across an active product tote station to locations correspondingto the active order totes CTAI, CTAO. For example, the buffered totePTIB may move across station RH so that the tote becomes PTIB an activetote PTAI at station LH while buffered tote PTOB is moved to station RHto become active tote PTAO. Hence, different units corresponding to thedifferent order lines for each order tote may be picked ambidextrously,e.g. substantially simultaneously by the left and right hands of theoperator without the operator turning or making arm motions across thebody (e.g. without placing, with the right hand of the operator, an itemin active order tote CTAI located on the left side of the operator fromproduct tote PTAO located on the right side of the operator or viceversa). As may be realized from FIGS. 9A-9B the product totes enter thestations or pick zones RH, LH and stop at one of the stations RH, LH sothat the pick location deterministically signals, to the operator, theput location of items taken from the respective product totes PTAI, PTAOin any suitable manner. (FIG. 13, Block 2330). For example, if theproduct tote PTAI is located on the left hand side of the operator itemspicked from product tote PTAI are placed in the order tote CTAI locatedon the left hand side of the operator. Likewise, if the product totePTAO is located on the right hand side of the operator items picked fromproduct tote PTAO are placed in the order tote CTAO located on the righthand side of the operator. The workstations 24 may be arranged toprovide for minimal operator movement when transferring items fromproduct totes to order totes. As a non-limiting example, the workstationmay be configured so that operator only has to move an item only a fewinches up out of the product tote, over and down into the order totewithout the operator turning his/her body and/or head to the left orright towards a respective order tote. It is noted that where a heavyitem is to be moved from a product tote to an order tote (e.g. the itemcannot be lifted with one hand of the user) a chair the operator issitting in may be configured to rotate for placing the heavy item in theorder tote so that the operator does not twist the operator's back.

One or more displays DI, DO may be disposed for viewing by the operatorduring the pick and place operations at the workstation 24 to indicate anumber of items to be removed from each product tote PTAI, PTAO forplacement in corresponding order totes CTAI, CTAO by the correspondinghand (e.g. left or right hand) of the operator. (FIG. 13, Blocks 2340,2350). In one aspect, the displays DI, DO may be located substantiallyimmediately behind the product tote PTAI, PTAO to which they relate orin any other suitable location that is within the operator's field ofview and readily associates the displays DI, DO with their respectiveproduct totes PTAI, PTAO. It is noted that the displays DI, DO may bepositioned in a “heads down” configuration such that the displays DI, DOare viewable as the operator is looking at the items within at least theproduct totes PTAI, PTAO so that the operator does not have to takehis/her eyes off of the items to be transferred and so that the operatordoes not have to change a field of view to observe the displays DI, DO.As a non-limiting example of display placement, the display DI andproduct tote PTAI are both located on the left hand side of the operatorsuch that the display DI indicates how many items are to be removed fromthe product tote PTAI and placed in the order tote CTAI. Likewise, thedisplay DO and product tote PTAO are both located on the right hand sideof the operator such that the display DO indicates how many items are tobe removed from the product tote PTAO and placed in the order tote CTAO.It is noted that while two displays DI, DO are shown it should berealized that a single display may be provided where the single displayoperates to indicate a number of items to be removed from the producttotes PTAI, PTAO. The displays DI, DO may be any suitable displays, suchas for example, an array of lights and/or an LCD or other flat paneldisplay.

The displays may be configured (e.g. through communication withcontroller 120) to “count down” the number of items to be picked. Forexample, if three items are to be removed from product tote PTAI andplaced in order tote CTAI the initial indication from the display (e.g.when product tote PTAI arrives at station LH) will indicate three itemsare to be removed. As the first item is removed and placed in order toteCTAI the display changes to indicate that two more items are to beremoved (e.g. a number of illuminated lights changes from three to twoor a number being displayed changed from “3” to “2”) and so on. As maybe realized the displays DI, DO may be connected to, for example, thecontroller 120 in any suitable manner for providing the indication ofthe number of items to be removed from the product totes. For example,the controller 120 may be configured to cause the display DI, DO toindicate the initial number of items to be removed from the respectiveproduct tote PTAI, PTAO in any suitable manner. The controller 120 maybe connected to any suitable sensor(s) or tracking device(s) forsensing/detecting or otherwise verifying that items are removed from theproduct totes PTAI, PTAO and placed in the corresponding order toteCTAI, CTAO. (FIG. 13, Block 2360). In one example, the workstations 24may include weight sensors 1000 for sensing a weight of each order toteCTAI, CTAO. The weight sensors 1000 may be connected to the controller120 in any suitable manner and the controller 120 may be configured,such as through any suitable memory, with the weights of each individualitem in the product totes PTAI, PTAO. As each item is placed in theorder totes CTAI, CTAO the weight of the order totes CTAI, CTAO changesby the amount of weight of each item taken from the respective producttote PTAI, PTAO. The controller 120 may be configured to recognize thisincrease in order tote weight (via the weight sensors 1000) anddetermine how many items from the product totes PTAI, PTAO have beenplaced in respective ones of the order totes CTAI, CTAO. Based on thenumber of items placed in the order totes CTAI, CTAO the controller 120is configured to determine how many more items from each of the producttotes PTAI, PTAO are to be placed in the respective order totes CTAI,CTAO and accordingly change the displays DI, DO to indicate the how manymore items are to be removed from the product totes PTAI, PTAO.

In another aspect, the workstations 24 may include one or more motiontracking units MT configured to track, for example, the movement of theoperator's hands between the product totes PTAI, PTAO and the respectiveorder totes CTAI, CTAO. The motion tracking unit(s) MT may be connectedto, for example, the controller 120 in any suitable manner. The motiontracking unit(s) may include, for example, a glove 2000 (FIG. 10) havinga surface (e.g. reflective surface) or other suitable feature 2010 thatthe motion tracking unit MT is configured to detect. As may be realized,the surface or other suitable feature 2010 may have any suitable formand be affixed to any suitable wearable object such, as for example, abracelet or a ring. It is noted that the gloves may also be configuredto increase grip and reduce hand fatigue. The controller 120 may beconfigured, e.g. through the motion tracking unit MT, to track thenumber of times the left and right hands of the user move between therespective product and order totes PTAI, CTAI and PTAO, CTAO and changethe indication on the respective display DI, DO to show a decreasednumber of items to be removed from the respective product totes PTAI,PTAO. As may be realized, the motion tracking unit MT and the weightsensors 1000 may operate together or individually to determine thenumber of items placed in the order totes CTAI, CTAO. It is noted thatthe number of items placed in the order totes may be tracked in anysuitable manner for changing the displays DI, DO as described herein.The motion tracking unit MT may also be configured to indicate when theoperator's hands are clear of the product totes PTAI, PTAO before thetotes are advanced from the workstation 24.

The controller 120 may also be configured to communicate with theoperator through, for example, an audio headset HS. The audio headset HSmay provide bi-directional communication between the operator and thecontroller 120 (e.g. through voice recognition and speech generation ortext to speech). The controller 120 may be configured to provide handedaural indications to the operator indicating, for non-limiting exemplarypurposes, the quantity of items to be removed from each product totePTAI, PTAO, the location of placement of the items and errors in itemplacement. The headset HS may also be in communication with otherheadsets to allow for bidirectional communication between, for example,supervisory personnel and the operator. The controller 120 may also beconfigured to receive input from the operator such as, for non-limitingexemplary purposes, a confirmation of quantity for the items placed inthe order totes, confirmation when a product tote is clear to advanceafter a final pick from that product tote, an instruction that theoperator is going to take a break.

Referring now to FIG. 11 an exemplary operation of the storage andretrieval system 12 will be described. As noted above product totes PTare inducted into the storage and retrieval system in any suitablemanner. (FIG. 11, Block 800). For example, the product totes PT may betransferred from another storage and retrieval system, such as system100 of FIG. 2 or from a staging area that provides product totes PT orcase units from, for example, a manufacturer's delivery truck. Theproduct totes PT or case units may be operated on such as by removing atop of the tote or case unit to provide access to the contents therein.The product totes PT are transferred to, for example, an in-boundconveyor 150I of the storage and retrieval system 12 in any suitablemanner such as by, for example, conveyor 13. (FIG. 11, Block 810). Theproduct totes PT are removed from the conveyors 150I and placed indesignated storage positions within the storage area 130. (FIG. 11,Block 820). As may be realized autonomous vehicles, such as vehicles 110may transport the product totes PT between the conveyors 150I and thestorage areas. When orders are received product totes PT designated tofulfill the order are removed from the storage area 130 to conveyor 150Oby, for example, vehicle 110 for transfer to a predetermined one or moreof the workstations 24. At the workstations 24 items are removed fromthe active product totes PTAI, PTAO and placed in corresponding ordertotes CTAI, CTAO for fulfilling, for example, a customer order. (FIG.11, Block 840). It is noted, as described above, in an opportunisticorder fulfillment one product tote may be used to fill multiple ordertotes before the product tote is removed from the workstation, whereasin the deterministic order fulfillment one product tote is used to fillonly one order tote (e.g. the product tote is removed from theworkstation substantially immediately after the active order tote isfilled with the items designated from the product tote—see FIG. 13,Block 2370 but it should be understood that the product totes may beremoved from the workstations to the storage area without filling e.g.the complete order for that product tote such as when a product tote hasinsufficient items to fulfill a designated quantity). The controller maybe configured to cause the conveyor 32 to transfer the product totesfrom which the items have already been transferred to the order totesCTAI, CTAO to leave the stations LH, RH so that other product cases canbe indexed to the stations for completing the transfer of designateditems into the order totes CTAI, CTAO. As may be realized, any suitablenumber of product totes may be transferred to the stations LH, RH fortransferring items to a single order tote (e.g. the transfer of items toa single order tote being a transfer of items from a station LH, RH to arespective order tote where the order tote is not moved from the activeposition until the order tote is filled with all designated items—seeFIG. 13, Block 2380 but it should be understood that the order totes maybe removed from the workstations to the storage area without fillinge.g. the complete order for that product tote). As described above, theproduct totes PT may be transferred around the loops L1-L3 of theconveyor 32 to transfer the product totes to any workstation 24 thatrequires items from the tote to fulfill a customer order. Product totesthat have items remaining in them after customer order fulfillment aretransferred back into the storage area 130 by the conveyors 150I andvehicles 110. Empty product totes may be removed from the workstationarea by, for example, a suitable conveyor (e.g. conveyor 320) and arenot returned to the storage area. The empty product totes may betransferred to a staging area for reuse in the system 12 or discarded.The filled or partially filled order totes CT may be transferred fromthe workstations 24 into the storage area 130 through the conveyors 150Iand vehicles 110 where they are stored until such time when the ordertotes CT are to be shipped to a customer. (FIG. 11, Block 840). As maybe realized, the product totes may be transferred directly to a shippingarea after being filled at workstation 24, without being placed instorage area 130. When the order totes CT are to be shipped to acustomer, the vehicles 110 remove the order totes CT from the storagearea 130 and transfer them to a conveyor 150O. From the conveyor 150Othe order totes CT are transferred to order staging conveyor 40 in anysuitable manner, such as with transfer station 150O. The order stagingconveyor 40 transfers the order totes CT to a staging area where theyare prepared for shipping in any suitable manner such as by wrapping theorder tote, placing the order tote on a pallet or other shippingcontainer, or otherwise placing the order tote in a transport fordelivery to the customer. (FIG. 11, Block 850). As may be realized, thecontroller 120, or other suitable controller, is configured to issuecommands to the components of the storage and retrieval system 12 toeffect the induction of product totes PT into the system 12 and thetransfer of product totes and order totes within the system 12 forfulfilling customer orders.

In accordance with a first aspect of the disclosed embodiments awarehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed incontainers is provided. The system includes a multilevel storage array,each level of which has a transport area and a storage area, the storagearea including an array of storage shelves configured to hold containersthereon and the transport area being substantially continuous andarranged to communicably connect the storage shelves to each other; atleast one substantially continuous lift for transporting containers toand from at least one level of the multilevel storage array; at leastone transport vehicle located on the at least one level and configuredto traverse the transport area transporting containers between the atleast one continuous lift and container storage locations on the storageshelves so that the at least one continuous lift communicatesnon-deterministically, via the transport vehicle, with container storagelocations of each of the storage shelves on the at least one level; aninfeed transport system communicably linked to the at least onecontinuous lift for entering product containers, holding stock goods, onthe storage shelves; and an order fulfillment station arranged forgenerating, from the stock goods in the product containers on thestorage shelves, order containers corresponding to a customer order andholding order goods, designated by the customer order, the fulfillmentstation being communicably connected to the multilevel storage array viathe at least one continuous lift so that order containers from thefulfillment station are entered onto the storage shelves of themultilevel storage array.

In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosed embodiment the atleast one transport vehicle connected to the infeed transport system andthe order fulfillment station is a common transport vehicle.

In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosed embodiment thestorage shelves of the array are arranged in rows and the transport areaforms aisles between the rows and communicably connects each containerstorage location along the rows of storage shelves to the at least onecontinuous lift.

In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosed embodiment thewarehousing system further includes a controller programmed to guide theat least one transport vehicle along transport area so that the at leastone transport vehicle is capable of moving from the at least onecontinuous lift to each container storage location along each row ofstorage shelves.

In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosed embodiment thewarehousing system further includes a controller programmed so thatproduct containers and order containers are transported by the at leastone transport vehicle to and from the at least one continuous lift andthe container storage locations of the array of storage shelves.

In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosed embodiment the atleast one continuous lift defines a container sorter that is common forthe multilevel storage array and the order fulfillment station.

In accordance with a second aspect of the disclosed embodiment awarehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed incontainers is provided. The system includes a multilevel storage array,each level of which has a transport area and a storage area, the storagearea including an array of storage shelves configured to hold containersthereon and the transport area being substantially continuous andarranged to communicably connect the storage shelves to each other; atleast one substantially continuous lift for transporting containers toand from at least one level of the multilevel storage array; at leastone order fulfillment station arranged for generating, from the stockgoods in the product containers on the storage shelves, order containerscorresponding to a customer order and holding order goods, designated bythe customer order, the at least one order fulfillment station beingcommunicably connected to the multilevel storage array via the at leastone continuous lift so that order containers from the at least one orderfulfillment station are entered onto the storage shelves of themultilevel storage array; and at least one transport vehicle located onthe at least one level and configured to traverse the transport areatransporting containers between the at least one continuous lift andcontainer storage locations on the storage shelves so that the at leastone transport vehicle communicates non-deterministically, via the atleast one substantially continuous lift, and is common to each of the atleast one order fulfillment station.

In accordance with the second aspect of the disclosed embodiment thewarehousing system further includes an infeed transport systemcommunicably linked to the at least one continuous lift for enteringproduct containers, holding stock goods, on the storage shelves.

In accordance with the second aspect of the disclosed embodiment thewarehousing system further includes a controller programmed to guide theat least one transport vehicle along transport area so that the at leastone transport vehicle is capable of moving from the at least onecontinuous lift to each container storage location along each row ofstorage shelves.

In accordance with the second aspect of the disclosed embodiment thewarehousing system further includes a controller programmed so thatproduct containers and order containers are transported by the at leastone transport vehicle to and from the at least one continuous lift andthe container storage locations of the array of storage shelves.

In accordance with a third aspect of the disclosed embodiment an orderfulfillment station arranged for filling, from stock goods, disposed inproduct containers, order containers corresponding to a customer orderand holding order goods designated by a customer order is provided. Thefulfillment station includes an operator station where an operator isresident for picking stock goods from product containers and placinginto order containers; a product container station configured forpositioning the product containers for picking stock goods therefrom bythe operator at the operator station, the product container stationbeing arranged to define more than one product container holdinglocations; and an order container station configured for positioning theorder containers for placing order goods thereinto by the operator atthe operator station, the order container station defining more than oneorder container holding locations, wherein product container station andthe order container station have predetermined characteristics thatdefine handedness features for picking from product containers at themore than one product container holding locations, each productcontainer holding location having a different handedness than anadjacent product container holding location.

In accordance with the third aspect of the disclosed embodiment thepredetermined characteristics that define handedness features compriseat least one display configured to indicate a number of stock goods tobe transferred from a product container on one side of the operator andplaced into an order container disposed on the one side of the operator.

In accordance with the third aspect of the disclosed embodiment thepredetermined characteristics that define handedness features comprise acommunication device configured to indicate a number of stock goods tobe transferred from a product container on one side of the operator andplaced into an order container disposed on the one side of the operator.

In accordance with the third aspect of the disclosed embodiment thepredetermined characteristics that define handedness features comprise aleft and right product container station and a left and right ordercontainer station, wherein stock goods removed from product containersat the left product container station are placed in order containers atthe left order container station and items removed from productcontainers at the right product container station are placed in ordercontainers at the right order container station.

In accordance with the third aspect of the disclosed embodiment theproduct container station includes a left hand and a right hand productcontainer station, the predetermined characteristics that definehandedness features comprise the operator station being disposed suchthat the left hand product container station is located on a left handside of the operator station and the right hand product containerstation is located on a right hand side of the operator station.

In accordance with the third aspect of the disclosed embodiment theorder container station includes a left hand and a right hand ordercontainer station, the predetermined characteristics that definehandedness features comprise the operator station being disposed suchthat the left hand order container station is located on a left handside of the operator station and the right hand order container stationis located on a right hand side of the operator station.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the disclosed embodiment an orderfulfillment station arranged for filling, from stock goods, disposed inproduct containers, order containers corresponding to a customer orderand holding order goods designated by a customer order is provided. Thefulfillment station includes an operator station where an operator isresident for picking stock goods from product containers and placinginto order containers; a product container station configured forpositioning the product containers for picking stock goods therefrom bythe operator at the operator station, the product container stationbeing arranged to define more than one product container holdinglocation; an order container station configured for positioning theorder containers for placing order gods thereinto by the operator at theoperator station, the order container station defining more than oneorder container holding location; wherein the more than one productcontainer holding location and the more than one order container holdinglocation are configured for substantially simultaneous ambidextrouspicking and placing by the operator at the operator station, the morethan one product container holding locations being indexed to the one ormore order container holding stations so that picking and placing iseffected deterministically between indexed product container holdingstations and order container holding stations.

In accordance with the fourth aspect of the disclosed embodiment the oneor more product container location comprises a first product containerlocation disposed on a right hand side of the operator station and asecond product container location disposed on a left hand side of theoperator station and the one or more order container location comprisesa first order container location disposed on a right hand side of theoperator station and a second order container location disposed on aleft hand side of the operator station, wherein the left and right handproduct and order containers are positioned so that stock goods aresubstantially simultaneously removed from the left and right handproduct container stations and placed in a respective one of the leftand right hand order container stations.

In accordance with the fourth aspect of the disclosed embodiment theorder fulfillment station further includes at least one of an aural andvisual indicator configured to indicate a number of stock goods to beremoved from the product containers for placement into a correspondingone of the order containers.

In accordance with the fourth aspect of the disclosed embodiment theorder fulfillment station further includes an order container conveyorand a product container conveyor and a controller connected to each ofthe order container conveyor and product container conveyor, thecontroller being configured to control movement of containers on each ofthe conveyors such that product containers containing stock goods to betransferred to a predetermined order container are delivered to acorresponding product container holding location while the predeterminedorder container is located at a predetermined order container holdingstation.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is onlyillustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modificationscan be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from theinvention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace allsuch alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within thescope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A warehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed in containers, the warehousing system comprising: a multilevel storage array, each level of which has a transport area and a storage area, the storage area including an array of storage stations configured to hold containers thereon and the transport area arranged to communicably connect the storage stations to each other, the transport area including picking aisles and a transfer path connecting the picking aisles; at least one vertical lift for transporting containers to and from at least one level of the multilevel storage array, wherein the transfer path connects the picking aisles and at least one vertical lift so that container storage locations on storage stations communicate with the at least one vertical lift; at least one transport vehicle, distinct from the transport area, located on each of the at least one level and configured to traverse the transfer path so as to effect communication and transport containers between the container storage locations on storage stations and the at least one vertical lift at each of the at least one level; an infeed transport system communicably linked to the at least one level for entering product containers, holding stock goods, on the storage stations; an order fulfillment station arranged for generating, from the stock goods in the product containers on the storage stations, order containers corresponding to a customer order and holding order goods, designated by the customer order; and a transport conveyor communicably connected to the at least one vertical lift and at least one of the order fulfillment station so that the at least one vertical lift is connected to one or more of the order fulfillment station.
 2. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transport vehicle connected to the infeed transport system and the order fulfillment station is a common transport vehicle.
 3. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the storage stations of the array are arranged in rows and the picking aisles are disposed between the rows and communicably connects each container storage location along the rows of storage stations to the at least one vertical lift.
 4. The warehousing system of claim 1, further comprising a controller programmed to guide the at least one transport vehicle along the transport area so that the at least one transport vehicle is capable of moving from the at least one vertical lift to each container storage location along each row of storage stations.
 5. The warehousing system of claim 1, further comprising a controller programmed so that product containers and order containers are transported by the at least one transport vehicle to and from the at least one vertical lift and the container storage locations of the array of storage stations.
 6. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one vertical lift defines a container sorter that is common for the multilevel storage array and the order fulfillment station.
 7. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the order fulfillment station includes one or more motion tracking units configured to track operator movement relative to the product containers and order containers for effecting a determination of a number of stock goods transferred between the product containers and the order containers.
 8. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the order fulfillment station includes a display configured to indicate to an operator a number of stock goods to be removed from the product containers.
 9. The warehousing system of claim 1, wherein the product containers are buffered at the order fulfillment station in a predetermined sequence based on the customer order.
 10. A warehousing system for storing and retrieving goods disposed in containers, the warehousing system comprising: a multilevel storage array, each level of which has a transport area and a storage area, the storage area including an array of storage stations configured to hold containers thereon and the transport area arranged to communicably connect the storage stations to each other, the transport area including picking aisles and a transfer path connecting the picking aisles; at least one vertical lift for transporting containers to and from at least one level of the multilevel storage array, wherein the transfer path connects the picking aisles and at least one vertical lift so that container storage locations on storage stations communicate with the at least one vertical lift; at least one order fulfillment station arranged for generating, from the stock goods in the containers on the storage stations, order containers corresponding to a customer order and holding order goods, designated by the customer order; a transport conveyor communicably connected to the at least one vertical lift and the at least one order fulfillment station so that the at least one vertical lift is connected to one or more of the order fulfillment station; and at least one transport vehicle, distinct from the transport area, located on the at least one level and configured to traverse the transfer path so as to effect communication and transport containers between the container storage locations on storage stations and the at least one vertical lift at each of the at least one level.
 11. The warehousing system of claim 10, further comprising an infeed transport system communicably linked to the at least one level for entering product containers, holding stock goods, on the storage stations.
 12. The warehousing system of claim 10, further comprising a controller programmed to guide the at least one transport vehicle along transport area so that the at least one transport vehicle is capable of moving from the at least one vertical lift to each container storage location along each row of storage stations.
 13. The warehousing system of claim 10, further comprising a controller programmed so that product containers and order containers are transported by the at least one transport vehicle to and from the at least one vertical lift and the container storage locations of the array of storage stations.
 14. The warehousing system of claim 10, wherein the array of storage stations are arranged in rows of storage stations and the picking aisles are disposed between the rows and communicably connects each container storage location along the rows of storage stations to the at least one vertical lift.
 15. The warehousing system of claim 10, wherein the at least one order fulfillment station includes one or more motion tracking units configured to track operator movement relative to the containers and order containers for effecting a determination of a number of stock goods transferred between the containers and the order containers.
 16. The warehousing system of claim 10, wherein the at least one order fulfillment station includes a display configured to indicate to an operator a number of stock goods to be removed from the containers.
 17. The warehousing system of claim 10, wherein the containers are buffered at the at least one order fulfillment station in a predetermined sequence based on the customer order
 18. A method for storing and retrieving goods in a warehouse where the goods are disposed in containers, the method comprising: providing a multilevel storage array, each level of which has a transport area and a storage area, the storage area including an array of storage stations configured to hold containers thereon and the transport area arranged to communicably connect the storage stations to each other, the transport area including picking aisles and a transfer path connecting the picking aisles; transporting containers to and from at least one level of the multilevel storage array with at least one vertical lift, wherein the transfer path connects the picking aisles and at least one vertical lift so that container storage locations on storage stations communicate with the at least one vertical lift; effecting communication and transport containers between the container storage locations on storage stations and the at least one vertical lift at each of the at least one level with at least one transport vehicle, that is distinct from the transport area, where the at least one transport vehicle is located on each of the at least one level and traverses the transfer path; re-entering product containers, holding stock goods, on the storage stations with an infeed transport system communicably linked to the at least one level with a transport conveyor; and generating at an order fulfillment station, from the stock goods in the product containers on the storage stations, order containers corresponding to a customer order and holding order goods, designated by the customer order, wherein the at least one vertical lift and at least one of the order fulfillment station are communicably connected to the transport conveyor so that the at least one vertical lift is connected to one or more of the order fulfillment station.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one transport vehicle connected to the infeed transport system and the order fulfillment station is a common transport vehicle.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the storage stations of the array are arranged in rows and the picking aisles are disposed between the rows and communicably connects each container storage location along the rows of storage stations to the at least one vertical lift.
 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising guiding the at least one transport vehicle, with a controller, along the transport area so that the at least one transport vehicle is capable of moving from the at least one vertical lift to each container storage location along each row of storage stations.
 22. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing a controller programmed so that product containers and order containers are transported by the at least one transport vehicle to and from the at least one vertical lift and the container storage locations of the array of storage stations.
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein the product containers are buffered at the order fulfillment station in a predetermined sequence based on the customer order. 